


Tugging At Heartstrings

by BumbledBumbleBee



Category: South Park
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of such characters, Other games possibly, Physical Abuse, Possible smut later, overwatch gameplay, popular games, tags and characters will be added as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-04-21 20:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14292879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BumbledBumbleBee/pseuds/BumbledBumbleBee
Summary: Kenny McCormick is known for his skill with playing video games.Stanley had never actually heard of him before.





	Tugging At Heartstrings

**Author's Note:**

> So they will be living in different places for the sake of the fic, but I just really need Stenny and there isn't enough to sate my need.
> 
> This has also been sitting in my drafts for so long, so apparently it's going to be multi-para instead of one huge chunk unfortunately. Maybe the next one will be a large chunk since it isn't tiMED

"You haven't heard of Dildo Teabaggins?"  
  
Stan had never really been one to watch people play games, it didn't appeal to him so of course he hadn't heard of the crude, apparently well known name. So he simply shrugged and shook his head. What else could he do? If he looked it up right now it'd be a dead giveaway, he'd prefer to just confront the truth.  
  
It didn't seem like Kyle was impressed, but the two of them were pretty fucking different. Similar to people who first met them, but the longer you'd known them the further apart they seemed even if they were joined at the hip; even presumed to be dating in their younger years. Now Stan knew that Kyle enjoyed watching people play games, and had especially gone through a phase of collecting as many popular youtubers or streamers that he could. He watched less of them nowadays, but he felt like the name had popped up a few times even back when they were kids still grinding on Guitar Hero.   
  
With a sigh, the redhead simply placed a hand on his shoulder as though he were going to talk him through the wonders of the world, which in Kyle's sense, he might be doing just that. "He's been going since we were ten, but admittedly his quality has gotten better. He's funny, charismatic and humble. He responds to a lot of people, actually, and apparently reads every comment he can."  
  
That was kind of a warning for him, though. Everyone said that, right? If a streamer or YouTuber didn't say exactly that fans might get disappointed, or at least that's what he assumed. If this guy was as big as Kyle made him out to be, then going through nearly every comment would be a _lot_ harder than someone that was unheard of. He should just admit to everyone that he doesn't read every fucking comment and get it over with. "Every comment he can could just be like ten."  
  
A hand swatted his chest, in a manner that told him to "shush," and the two continued their walk back to Kyle's house. It was Friday and that meant quality bro bonding time and a sleepover which was totally not childish, shut up. Stan just kept quiet and peered over his friend's shoulder, and being taller in height came in handy when he wanted to look at something. It was only a shame they preferred different sports, it'd be extremely fun just playing with a friend. He could imagine basketball would be easier with another tall person on the team, especially when their best player was 5'6", but he was not that experienced so it'd be for nothing.  
  
It was an Overwatch video, of course it was, and they were sat in the lowest tier rank in the game.   
  
So much for being good, right?  
  
Now, the first 15 or so seconds was terrible gameplay, and he didn't know exactly why he was watching it at first, until the chirping of crickets sounded. Kyle handed him the phone and he took it with a roll of his eyes. The teammates were complaining that god _forbid_ gold or silver players had a single _bronze_ on their team, and then he picked Widowmaker, notorious throw pick due to the high skill cap it took to play as her. Snipers were a hit or miss(pun intended) and although there was no real voice accompanying him, he simply kept playing when a few of his teammates had given up before the game had begun, building turrets in the spawn or refusing to heal. That was until he started actually playing.   
  
It was a drastic change to the first little tidbit, and although missing a few, each shot was consistent and precise. So he was good at games, so what? A few memes had been thrown around the video for entertainment because really sitting there watching something like that wasn't too interesting. Videos weren't longer than only a few minutes, but it was enough to show his skill.   
  
Taking his phone back, Kyle seemed to be flicking through things, and pulled up an image of a boy draped over a brick wall, arm propping himself up, the other with the tips of his fingers covering where his lips would be if he wasn't wearing a fucking _parka_. The only thing you could really see of him was a single eye(the other closed in a wink) and the picture was too far away to distinguish a real eye colour even then. The only thing you could tell was that he looked like a fat ball of orange, and was white. That's it. That's all you get apparently.  
  
Looking down to the caption, it read:

" _You guys wanted a face reveal so here i am in all my glory <33333 _  
_mmm look at that smexy bod_  
_its a surprise im even doing this,_ _i prefer being in the shadows, but i guess thats kind of shifty_  
_to all those that are telling me i sound like id be a super tall, buff dude im not, just in case that wasnt already clear_  
_this is mostly a joke but if you still care shoot me a message i love talking to you guys_ "

Admittedly that was kind of sweet and a little funny, but a lot of people played on that shit, so he shrugged it off since it still wasn't his thing. Kyle sighed, simply giving up on it for the moment, and a grin was brought to his face as he prodded at Stan. "Dude, that reminds me, we still have to smash a few bosses on Cuphead."  
  
  
****

  
  
The whole night had actually been fairly uneventful, other than getting stuck on one particular boss since they had to switch characters. Kyle usually played Mugman, Stan being Cuphead but today they had to switch since they were no longer at his place so the profiles were different. They both didn't like playing first player on a foreign console. Stan was better at switching to the different controllers, but he was better than Kyle at video games and played them more often so it wasn't a huge surprise that he was the more versatile of the two. Kyle liked focusing on his projects and handing things in on time, using games to relax and calm down rather than do it to be impressing or tryhard, but they were pretty close in skill, even without Kyle wanting to play anything competitively or for any reason other than to have fun.  
  
Stan was an achievement hunter. He played games for both the thrill, story, play style but nothing was more important to him than upping his gamerscore. He wanted to be part of that 0.01 percent that had the Hard To The Core on Little Nightmares, he wanted every hard to reach achievement because it made him feel exceptionally good.  
   
After a while, Kyle went to sleep, and Stan laid awake thinking because his friend was both an aggressive sleeper and sleeping in the same bed made it hard for him to actually drift off. Kyle would toss and turn, yank blankets away or straight from underneath his body or shove him to the floor. He could never sit still and sleep in one place, and he could imagine it'd be quite the problem when he actually got himself into a relationship.  
  
Phones in the dark gave him headaches, but fuck headaches, he was curious as to why Kyle kept pushing him to watch this guys dumb videos. It made no sense, unless...

It was almst immediate; the yanking of his phone to quickly open up a tab and send this orange boy a message. " _Don't you dare take my best friend away from me._ " was all it read, and he hoped it sounded intimidating, because he was kind of angry. It was irrational, but Kyle had been close to his heart since they were tots, basically growing up together. Kyle wouldn't leave him for something as small as that, right? Maybe he had a crush on the guy and didn't want Stan to disapprove or something.  
  
His phone vibrated in his hands and signalled a little notification at the top of the screen to tell him he had received a message in return. Did he just type really fast or what?  
  
" _Dude! I didn't know I was! ┐(‘～`；)┌ Who am I stealing with my roguishly handsome face? Do I talk to them?_ "   
  
The message as a whole was unexpected, especially so fast, but streamers probably had no life if he was being honest with himself. The fact he was so nice about the hostile message made him feel bad for sending it in the first place.   
  
" _You might do, but it just feels like you're taking him away from me. I don't know if I should give his name to someone who could very well be an adult under the guise of a child._ "   
  
Stan had been through a lot of run ins with stupid shit, and trusted adults way less than he would've hoped to have. They did just as stupid stuff, sometimes more so than when he was a kid and it had always been a wild ride. Stupid shit hung around his neck like a dead animal. Pretty in your face if you knew what it was. Again, the reply was lightning fast, and it was a surprise that he didn't have more people to respond to. He had a huge following after all.  
  
" _lmAO thats a first i could very well also be a 12 year old ugm? but id kind of need a name, unless its super common i shouldnt need another. ʘ‿ʘ_ "   
  
Looking over to his sleeping friend with his dumb hat still on, he tried to think. Kyle was more willy nilly with this shit, so it was possible he had given out his first name, and this guy could be a worse person to be talking with in the two sentences he'd received so far. Was it worth the risk? Seeing Kyle breathe in slowly, and frown into the pillow, tugging the covers away from Stan as he rolled over away from the light. Not really, but he'd come this far.  
  
" _His name's Kyle, can get super angry real fast but is an absolute sweetheart. Smart cookie too. Has he sent you any messages? Also keep those faces away from me, they're horrifying._ "  
  
" _╚(•⌂•)╝ the face is my best feature tyvm but yes i think i do know him! Kyley B, right? haha, he's great. super cute too, he gave me his insta. if youre the infamous Stan Marsh ive heard so much about i'll be honoured"_  
  
Stan felt like he could drop dead at any moment. Not only had Kyle given out his social media, but he had also given over his friends full name. Not his own, just the closest person to him, so he could be googled. Have his information spread. For fucks sake, he knew sometimes they could be gullible and everything, but really? Not only that, but this guy was willing to throw it around, since it wasn't his own. The bloody cheek of it.  
  
He avoided the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, as laying down and doing that would be uncomfortable and absolutely useless to ease his nerves. He was already uncovered blanket wise, so he sat upright, making Kyle stir beside him, at this point though he couldn't find it in himself to care. Traitor.  
  
" _I'm going to kill him when he wakes up._ " Was all he sent as he went to turn his phone off, a message popped up before he could. He was getting real sick of this speed. As though whoever it was on the other end had just read his mind, or what he was about to do at least, he found nothing but a jumble of letters and a few floating dots to signal typing.

  
" _lgkmskbfnd_  
  
_Let me explain first!_  
  
_Okay, so I've actually been speaking to him on off for about a few years, and about a month ago he sent me his Instagram okay it's not that big of a deal! I mean, I had a huge crush on him at one point, but never told him. It was after getting his insta I found out about you, but there was so much information shoved into one big ordeal that I know a decent amount about you already!_ "  
  
The capitalisation and punctuation was weird to see for some reason, but maybe it was a panic response? Or when he wanted to be seen as serious? He didn't want to gloss over the facts he'd been given here, though. If he so wished, he could hold it over this guys head that he had a crush once, because it might still be a hidden thing. Not many people ask their crushes best friend to hook them up, or tell them at all in his experience... Actually that was a lie, Bebe had wanted Kyle as a sort of trophy boyfriend for a while before she found although not the cutest boy, Clyde was wonderful. If she were to stuff her face in front of him with no makeup on and baggy clothing, he'd not think bad of her, but more wonder how he got so lucky and bet he could eat more, faster than her.  
  
It was also kind of a slap in the face, that even super popular people were just people, considering Kyle was well known in only their little neighbourhood for being that one smart kid that got into shitloads of trouble with his friend group.  
  
He felt kind of left out not knowing about the other boy, and so he elected to ignore the message entirely.

  
****

  
Kyle woke up first, and the weekend was here, so nobody had to be anywhere early; but Stan was mostly squashed right into the wall and so he leaned over to drag his friend back on properly, covering him with the covers too in an unspoken apology. Seeing as Stan slept neither heavily or lightly, he was roused just slightly, looking up to Kyle before flopping his face back down again to settle and sleep in.  
  
Even if he woke up at unholy hours, it didn't mean he was still peachy keen as soon as he woke up, in fact he was often a huge grump with everyone. Heading downstairs first, he raked through the fruit bowl until he came across an apple, sitting himself down at the island in his kitchen, just eating silently. It was kind of boring without his phone, but Stan wasn't awake, and his phone was on the windowsill. Leaning over to grab it and having his chest in Stan's sleeping face to wake up to a shirt tickling his nose wasn't ideal. He knew what his sleeping pattern was like, and with it being so sporadic he deserved it where he could.   
  
He also seemed happier in his sleep, and he was right there with him when he was suffering with his severe depression, and there every breakdown, every time Sharon had found him and cradled him in her arms until Kyle made his way over. That was something you just don't tell people as a first impression, though, and so Kenny would be in the dark about it until his best friend came out about it instead. He was supposed to be coming over to visit in a few months anyway, it'd be nice for them to meet, he could certainly see them hitting it off. Be it in a friendship way, or a more than friendship way, which is why he had wanted to show him who exactly Kenny was.  
  
When he heard footsteps coming down his stairs, he expected his mom, maybe his dad, but certainly not his best bud.   
  
"Someone called Kenny rang you. They've been ringing for the past half an hour." He complained, his eyes barely even open yet, and Kyle couldn't help but admit to himself that it was kind of cute. The kind of cute you'd see in a sleeping animal, soft and adorable. He just wanted to squish his widdle face.  
  
"I've only been down here ten minutes max, Staniel." He seemed to grumble something along the lines of "don't call me Staniel" as he made his way back up the stairs, probably to sprawl out on the bed, but not before tossing Kyle his phone haphazardly, leaving said boy to scramble for his precious device before it smashed on the floor. And Stan wasn't wrong, he had 12 missed calls and an incoming one the same person he'd missed the calls from.  
  
He didn't even have time to put it to his ear before there was a quick voice on the other end, that had almost always been calm up until this point. "Kyle? Is that actually you because oh my _god_ Stan answered and I didn't know it was _him_ and I was about to start talking about him. I can't have that on my name, I'd fuck everything up by _gossiping_ , but I'm not really, he just seems like he hates me, please talk to him and try and convince him in not a horrible person, I don't want to be on the bad side of my friends Super Best Friend when I'm going to meet them in person in less than a month." The voice blurted, and Kyle was not awake enough for this.  
  
But, how could Stan possibly hate someone he didn't even know at all? It was kind of weird for Kenny to want to start talking about Stan though and often Kyle spurred the conversation topic, not the other way around. "Hold up, roll it back, pause. How can he hate you, he's never even spoken to you before? Did you really cram that much into a phone call before realising it wasn't me or were you that excited to gush about your gal pals tits?"   
  
A sigh of relief was heard over the receiver, but at the last words he'd struck a chord. "I don't always talk about her tits, it's just a reasonable topic. They're so perfect, and large enough to fit my-" With a sharp noise, he cut the boy off, and he was back on track to answering the questions. "Right, yes. He sent me a message last night and I didn't speak to him for long but I don't think he likes me."   
  
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm his irritation, he cleared his mind. It wasn't his job to be a medium, he didn't like it. Holding the phone to his chest, he shouted upstairs. "Stan you fucker! Get your lazy ass down here right now! I will not ask twice!"   
  
Kenny snorted a loud laugh, but Kyle simply said in a sickly sweet, put on voice. "He'll be down in a minute, dear."  
  
It was mostly complaining as he heard the door open, and heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, so he whipped around and held the phone out, his other arm folded over so he could cross them the second the phone was taken. Stan kind of knew that this was going to happen, and sort of hesitated to avoid the fiery glare, but he was melting like snow under it, and took the phone to click the **end call** button.  
  
"Oh no," Stan started, looking down at the screen before handing it back. "I don't know what happened, your phone just cut out. Maybe it needs better signal, because the call just _ended_ all by itself."  
  
Placing it on the counter, Stan just went to the kitchen to make breakfast instead of try to sleep, considering Kyle had now (in)directly woken him up twice. Getting back to sleep wasn't the strongest bet. "If you want me to talk to him, you're going to have to fill me in like you did with him. I am not talking to someone that knows so much about me when I know nothing about them."

  
***  
 

Kenny on the other hand was freaking the fuck out. He wasn't feeling too comfortable around the call, even if Kyle did ease his nerves but _Stan_. He was so determined _not_ to talk to him he didn't even say goodbye. From everything Kyle had said he had found himself curious about this Marsh boy, and in more recent days, falling for him without having ever spoken to him, but after today he couldn't be so sure.   
  
Not only because he didn't have a chance, but because he seemed kind of possessive of his friendship. Kyle was very lovely, and looked like a right nerd, but if the two had dated he felt long distance would be tough, not only because he was a being of physical contact, but Kyle apparently wasn't very touchy at the best of times, even if he didn't mind receiving it. He, himself, had always been touch starved and being with an asexual person who didn't particularly give affection was a little down-heartening. The only thing he could count on was the fact that Kyle was a romantic, and would pull stupidly big stunts of affection in the relationships he had.  
  
It would just make him feel worse considering he wasn't exactly rich, and had been planning this trip for years, saving so he would have enough for the flight(which was fairly cheap) somewhere to stay and money to keep himself afloat until he went back again. Since he was 13 to be exact, and saving for his sister to go to a bigshot college meant majority of his savings were saved saving for something else.(And boy was that a mouthful to even think of.)  
  
Now standing at 18 years of age, he was positive he was ready to go, the flight had been booked and he was ready to go any day now, but his parents were the big worry. He would have to give Karen money at 14 and trust her to keep it hidden, safe and spend it on what she needed while he was away. His parents weren't the best people, and were known for being alcoholics and drug addicts. He had always done his best to stay away from going down the same path, leading Karen with him, but not only did it seem kind of hard, but his father was physically abusive.  
  
People around him never really cared, nor saw what he went through, assuming the bruises and cuts he always walked around with were from fighting other kids, and Karen was always found in shirts that covered her regardless of the weather. His mother was nicer, and had tried to protect him on multiple occasions, but not everything could be prevented when she was also under the influence.   
  
Thankfully, South Park was not Romania, and he would be able to wear thick clothing to keep him warm, already having made himself a thick coat of professional standards to keep him warm. He'd been sewing since he was 7 and got a sewing machine for his birthday at 9, but ever since he hadn't received anything and neither had Karen. It was okay, Karen thanked him for all the fixes on her favourite clothing, and even making her new things with cheap fabric from everywhere under the sun.   
  
Back on topic, though, point was Kyle was wonderful but more of a perfect best friend, and Kenny was pretty sure he was straight. Stan, however, had come out as bisexual when he was 12, after realising his genderfluid partner meant he wasn't just dating a girl, he was also dating a guy sometimes, and was absolutely okay with that. The two had broken up a while ago, but apparently were still friends. This left him with a chance.  
  
He also knew that Stanley was a hopeless romantic, not worse than Kyle, but in the sense he was always sweet and did his absolute best. Kyle did okay, he had heard, but Stan did the small things- while Kyle did the extravagant. As though a peacock trying to impress. Stan was more like an otter, trying to court for about a year, holding your hand when going to sleep so you wouldn't get separated and doing small sweet things that just make your heart melt.   
  
So maybe he still had a little bit of a crush and was trying to use Kyle to give himself a chance, but it wasn't his fault. If the opportunity presented itself, he wanted to take it. He gained crushes on people so easily, but had never been in an actual relationship, only ever friends with benefits sort of deal, but he kept his heart open and hopeful.  
  
Now he had to find a way to talk to Stan without it even being about anything, but he was only good at a few things: origami, singing and video games.   
  
He could totally figure out a way to play to his strengths like it were a battle plan, it was just setting it into action that was the problem.


End file.
